


The Cafe Upstairs

by cottonpadenthusiast



Series: The Oneshots [10]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Angst, Hot Chocolate, M/M, Pining, Possibly Unrequited Love, Remus Owns A Bookshop, Sirius Owns A Cafe, bookshop au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 12:04:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17487725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cottonpadenthusiast/pseuds/cottonpadenthusiast
Summary: Remus Lupin can sum himself up in two words; book nerd. He can also sum up Sirius Black in three; hottest guy ever. Moreover, he can sum up the likelihood of a relationship between them in one; impossible.





	The Cafe Upstairs

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sort of side-along story to my other drarry fic "The Story A Lifetime." You don't have to read it for this to make sense but there are a few references.   
> All of my one-shots are posted on my tumblr @cottonpadenthusiast :)

 

Remus paused by the door of the cafe, breathing slowly and allowing whatever anger that he had built up when he had pounded up the staircase to dissipate. Screaming at the manager of the new cafe that was upstairs from Remus’ bookshop was not what he planned to do, but the frustration that had built up over the past few weeks burned in his veins.

His anger remained, despite his efforts to reduce it. The images of masses of people entering his shop, each asking for coffee, each being directed outside and to the door on the right played on a loop on his mind. The stupid cafe didn’t even have a proper sign, meaning the peace and quiet of Remus’ bookshop was disrupted every twenty minutes by some hipstery looking guy who wanted a green tea.

The possibility of Remus losing his shit was increasing by the second.

Remus pushed open the wooden door and the likelihood of his losing of shit decreased, just a little. The cafe was busy, but had a strangely calm atmosphere despite the crowd. Large window seats allowed the warm afternoon light to flood into the room and the white walls were covered in beautiful paintings and minimalistic art. Plants hung low from the ceiling and the smell of coffee and pastries filled the room.

Remus wondered why he had never come up here as he moved slowly towards the counter, eyes still wandering around the room. It was perfect.

“Hey, what can I get you?” 

Remus whipped his head around, quickly putting in place his angry expression. It disappeared as soon as he saw the man before him.

Long dark hair in a bun and chiselled cheekbones filled Remus’ vision and he felt his heart stutter. The man was gorgeous in a way Remus had only ever seen described in books, his slow easy smile reminding Remus of the countless fictional love interests he had pined over.

Losing his shit was firmly in the realm of impossible now.

“I-I was just looking for the manager,” Remus managed to stutter. 

The man, whose name was Sirius by the looks of his name tag, smirked. “Luckily enough, you’re looking right at him.”

“Oh. Well, I own the bookshop downstairs and quite a few of your customers have been coming in and asking for coffee, and I’ve had to send them your way. I was hoping you might make your sign a little clearer.”

“Oh shit. I’m so sorry, “ Sirius said a guilty expression on his face. “I’ll get that fixed as soon as possible. And as a peace offering, would you like a coffee? I’m Sirius Black by the way.”

Sirius offered his hand and Remus took it, ignoring how Sirius’ long fingers wrapped around his. The intensity of Sirius’ gaze and his bright smile had Remus’ cheeks flushing a light red.

“That would be lovely. And I’m Remus Lupin.”

“Nice to meet you, Remus. Let me guess; your preferred coffee type is a mocha.”

“What? How did you know that?”

Sirius turned and began to make the coffee, offering Remus a wonderful view of his toned shoulders through his white shirt. Remus tried not to stare, but when Sirius reached up for a mug and exposed his tan back, Remus could do nothing but allow himself to gape.

“I just guessed. One of my many,  _many_  talents is guessing people’s coffee order.” 

“Is one of your other talents modesty?” 

Sirius turned and shot Remus a smirk. All the romance novels and all the love stories and all the hot fictional guys had not prepared him for this, for Sirius Black with gorgeous grey eyes and a gentle voice and a smile that seemed to ruin and make Remus all at once.

“Here you go,” Sirius said, planting the coffee onto the counter. 

Remus lifted it to his lips and took a sip. The coffee tasted like heaven in a mug, the taste of chocolate swirling in Remus’ mouth and making him sigh. 

Remus hated insta-love, but it was becoming a more and more realistic plot device with every second.

“Oh my god, that’s amazing. Thank you.”

Sirius smiled. “You’re welcome. Now take a seat anywhere. I’ll be here if you need anything else.”

As Remus turned, a cold hard dread settled in his stomach. 

It grew as he walked towards his seat, and it grew as he sat and looked at the sinking sun. It grew and grew as he watched Sirius, watched how his confident smile never faded and how he seemed to glow more than the sun outside.

The dread grew because Remus knew that this wasn’t a love story, this wasn’t fiction. This was real life. And in real life, the nerdy boys don’t end up with the hot guys. In real life, the crushes are always unrequited. In real life, the pain is the realisation that you never had a chance.

In real life, Sirius Black would never dream of wanting someone like Remus Lupin.

So, as is real life, Remus quietly begged for his feelings to be fleeting and temporary.

What Remus didn’t realise is that the heart is a very, very stubborn thing.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Remus!”

Remus’ head snapped up as he watched Sirius saunter through the door, black leather jacket and ripped jeans completely out of place in Remus’ quiet bookshop.

Remus hadn’t stop thinking about Sirius over the past few weeks and despite his surprise visits becoming a regular thing, Remus’ heart still leapt with joy everytime Sirius sauntered through the door.

Which was stupid, he knew. Sirius was so out of Remus’ league it hurt him to even think about it.

“Hello, Sirius. Oh, thank you.” Remus said as Sirius dropped a drink onto the counter. He lifted to his lips and moaned softly when the taste of hot chocolate and marshmallows hit his tongue.

Sirius stared. Remus presumed he was probably trying to gauge his reaction. “No problem,” he replied, his voice more croaky than before.

“Well, what can I help you with?” 

“I just finished Pride and Prejudice.” Sirius took out the book Remus had given him the week before, his hands holding it like it was the most precious thing he owned.

Remus wondered what it would be like to be held like that.

“Did you like it?”

Sirius exclaimed a “yes!” before barging into a long rant about his favourite parts of the story, yet Remus couldn’t seem to hear anything he was saying, the words almost muffled and distant.

All he could think about was Sirius’ hands on that book, Sirius’ excited expression, Sirius’ low voice as it stumbled over his words and how his eyes seemed to glint with something that Remus had never seen before as he spoke.

All Remus could think about was Sirius.

Remus Lupin considered himself to be a man of simple taste. All he needed in life were three things: a good book, a cup of tea, and a bar of chocolate. With these three things, Remus would consider himself to be one of the luckiest men alive and utter happiness was not far away if one owned a bookshop and had a secret stash of chocolate in the third drawer.

Yet, as Remus stared at Sirius and noticed the slow, growing feeling in his chest, he knew that his number of needs had now increased by one.

And that particular need was of the completely and utterly unattainable sort.

“…and Mr Collins was awful but not as bad as Wickham. That man was the devil incarnate. How could he hurt Mr Darcy like that?”

Remus’ drew his focus back to Sirius. “Oh, yeah. I don’t know.”

Sirius’  eyes filled with worry. “You ok, Rem?” 

_Rem_. If Sirius knew what these nicknames and surprise hot chocolates were doing to Remus, then he was one sadistic arsehole because Remus didn’t know if he could survive this any longer.

“I’m fine. Just tired. Anyway, you can take a browse for a new book. It’s on the house since I owe you after all these free drinks.”

“Well, actually…” Sirius started, a light blush dusting his cheeks. “I was sort of hoping that you would help me choose?”

The statement was more of a question and Remus knew that he should say no, he needed to work, needed to anything other than to be in the presence of Sirius Black.

But he didn’t. Instead, he agreed to help because he was stupid and an idiot and Sirius looked like some sort of cover model for a book that Remus’ would secretly adore and Remus could never, ever say no to him.

The only way to survive around Sirius Black was to get caught in the whirlwind and just hope you wouldn’t spiral out of control.

So Remus spent the next forty-five minutes helping Sirius choose a book. They wandered through each section, Remus’ head spinning whenever their hands would brush or when Sirius would whisper a joke into his ear. By the time they arrived at the historical fiction section, Remus wondered how he was still standing.

“What’s your favourite book, Remus?” Sirius asked, hands trailing across book spines and hair falling softly into his face.

Remus studied Sirius as he thought about his answer. Multiple books popped into his mind, but none seemed to top the other.

“I don’t really have one,” he eventually answered. “There are a few books I love, but I don’t have a favourite out of them. I don’t see the point in defining my love for books by one story when each is different in its own way. But my favourite type of books are the ones that teach me something, that make me discover something about myself that I never knew before.”

Sirius hummed in response before casting Remus an intense glance over his shoulder. “And what have you learned about yourself recently?”

“That instead of guarding my heart, I should be guarding my brain. The heart starts the process, but the brain does all the damage.”

Sirius suddenly spun around and grabbed Remus’ hand in both his own. The swiftness of his actions startled Remus, but the sincere expression on Sirius’ face startled him more.

“Can I ask you something?” Sirius asked, words loaded with something Remus couldn’t decipher.

Hope bloomed like a flood in his chest.

“Yes.”

Sirius breathed deeply and with thier close proximity, Remus felt his warm breath fan over his face.

“I was hoping-well, I was wondering if…”

“Yes?” Remus prompted, curiosity and excitement stirring within him.

“I was wondering if you would like to become business partners with me.”

Disappointment flooded Remus’ body. He didn’t know what he had been expecting but it definitely wasn’t that.

“Oh. Right.” Remus slowly retracted his hands from Sirius’ grip and turned to the bookshelf, hoping Sirius wouldn’t see the hurt in his eyes.

“Do you not like the idea?” Sirius’ voice was laced with guilt and worry and it almost hurt Remus more than the disappointment. Almost.

“Oh no. That’s not it. Just explain what you mean by business partners.”

“Well, we could join the cafe and bookshop into one so that customer could buy a book then go upstairs and read it in my cafe. There is a staircase at the back of this place that leads up to mine, so they wouldn’t even have to go outside. I think it would be beneficial for us both.”

Remus agreed. It would probably mean more profits for both him and Sirius and he wouldn’t have to direct customers outside every five minutes. It could work.

But it would also mean working with Sirius more often and Remus really didn’t think his heart could handle that type of torture.

Remus met Sirius’ gaze. “I think it’s a great idea, Sirius. I just need to think about it for a while, if that’s alright with you.”

Sirius smiled. “Take as long as you need.”

Remus turned back to the books, running his fingers along the glossy covers. He wanted nothing more than to become one of the characters in these books, in a totally different time, where long black hair and cheeky smiles weren’t the things haunting Remus’ dreams, where soft hands weren’t the destroyers of Remus’ heart.

Where Sirius Black wasn’t Remus’ living hell and gorgeous nightmare.

“I actually have another question, Remus.”

“Oh?” Remus tried to feign interest but he didn’t have the energy to pretend anymore.

“Would you like to go on a date with me?”

Hazel eyes snapped up to grey. Remus’ heart stopped.

“What?” He whispered.

“Do you want to go on a date? With me?” Sirius swallowed, his nerves clear yet he didn’t hide them.

Remus Lupin had known that three out of his four requirements for happiness were simple, attainable things. The fourth, however, was not. It was heaven and hell and everything in between squeezed into a person. It was stories untold and tales to be discovered wrapped and hidden within the most beautiful person Remus had ever seen. It was the one need that was all that Remus needed.

And he had deemed it impossible to ever obtain.

It seemed he had been wrong.

“Yes,” he replied, bewilderment and joy exploding in his chest while he wondered if Sirius only needed Remus to be happy too.

Sirius smiled, a slow gorgeous smile, and Remus saw joy and safety and love within it. He saw the world.

Remus smiled back.

The worlds collided.


End file.
